Relief funding approved for SUDRA South Sudan

Mothers’ Union’s Relief Fund Committee has sent a grant of £25,000 to aid the humanitarian response of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan & Sudan to thousands of displaced people in South Sudan.

The funding will form part of the wider response of the Anglican Communion given to the local relief arm of the Church, SUDRA. This will be used to bring urgent food and medical aid to displaced families. A further grant of £25,000 has been agreed in principle by Mothers’ Union which the organisation hopes to source from outside its membership.

Harriet Baka, Mothers’ Union’s development coordinator for the Province is part of the SUDRA Relief committee. Over the next few weeks SUDRA aim to help 83,000 displaced people who have fled the conflict within South Sudan.

Mother’s Union has a unique role as one of the few Anglican mission agencies with a strong presence in South Sudan, with over 53,000 members and 30 trained development coordinators across the province. As well as providing immediate woman-power to deliver food and medical aid Mothers’ Union will be a key part of the rebuilding of community life in the months ahead, using their training to deliver community reconciliation. Therefore, in addition to the relief funding, Mothers’ Union will be raising funds for the ongoing work throughout 2014 in order to support the restoration that will be needed post-conflict.

Nicola Lawrence, Head of International Programmes said, “Our aim is to ensure we can support this work once the immediate need for aid is withdrawn and the news teams have come home. The people of South Sudan will rely heavily on women such as our 53,000 members as they seek to restore stable family life in the months ahead. We are committed to ensuring they receive a further £100,000 this year to ensure stable family life can be achieved in one of the most disadvantaged countries of the world.”